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Dark Girls

I just finished watching a movie called Dark Girls on you tube and it made me think of the two most important African-American women in my life. They are my mother and my older sister. And they have remained my constant through times of grief, despair, self-doubt and triumph. We have grown older together. It was that background that I brought to the movie along with a history that included viewing other films likes those of Marlon Riggs about blackness and sexuality.

I found out about the Black Girls movie from a new Facebook friend who has a group called Secular Sistuhs. She is reaching out to other women of color who are conscious and thinking for themselves. The group is planning to have a discussion of the movie so I decided I would learn what it was about and was pleasantly surprised. I have never been listening to a more positive group of African-Americans. There were also several comments by and about Asians who are also grappling with their own issues regarding skin complexion. While the movie dealt with a very sensitive subject, it also provided hope and offered solutions that we can also use.

We can all take ownership of our skin tones and love who we are. We don’t have anyone if we don’t have ourselves. We are a multitude of skin tones and we must stop giving up our power. We need to also work on changing the structure of political and economic power in this world. The election of Barack Obama as president was a step but more needs to happen so that those of us with dark skin no longer find ourselves at the bottom rung in society’s ladder. That is what i got from the movie Dark Girls and I hope you will see it and respond to this blog entry. Thank you.